The Colts are hosting the Texans today on CBS, with Greg Gumbel and Trent Green in the booth. It’s been a fairly entertaining first half, but the best parts may have been when Gumbel and Green offered up two broadcaster jinx moments on the same Colts drive.
Late in the first quarter, the Colts took over after a Texans punt into the end zone. CBS went to break with a graphic touting the Colts offensive line:
Coming back from break, CBS offered up this graphic, noting the Colts had the league’s longest active streak of offensive plays without a sack allowed.
Later in the same drive, the Colts faced fourth and 1 inside their own territory. Frank Reich elected to go for it, which prompted Gumbel to note the Colts were 7/7 on fourth down this season.
That led to this outcome:
Obviously the fabled announcer’s jinx isn’t real. It’s also a bit ironic that the information CBS, Gumbel, and Green were providing via graphics and situational analysis was highly relevant. The Colts line play has been a major reason Jacoby Brissett has been able to fill in for the retired Andrew Luck, and their success on fourth down (and Reich’s willingness to go for it) is a major reason they’re 3-2. Stats that offer useful context like that go a long way towards making games more entertaining for viewers.
To have that information completely and immediately refuted, though, is objectively funny.
